by A J Rivers
She hesitates, shifting her weight on her feet as she does everything she can not to look at me.
“Come on,” I say.
“Where are we going?” she asks.
“Up there,” I point. “I think you should see it.”
“No,” she says.
“Come on,” I repeat.
She reluctantly follows me up onto the rocks, and we stop just outside the entrance to the cavern.
“Why are you doing this to me?” she asks, tears starting to silently stream down her face. “I don't want to be where my daughter died.”
“You aren't,” I tell her calmly. “This isn't where she died. Just where her body was found. A lot of people have looked at this and said they think that she must have just wandered into the woods. Some other people say that she was attacked by somebody and they stored her here. What do you think?”
“I thought she was killed by the same person as the others,” she says.
“Before we knew there was anyone else,” I say. “What did you think happened to her?”
“I don't know,” Carrie says, getting emotional. “I figured somebody must have taken her and this is where they left her.”
“You want to know what I think?” I ask.
“What?” she asks.
“This isn't a place a stranger leaves somebody. She wasn't dumped here. She was very carefully placed here. This was meant to protect her. Whoever put her here knew she was dead, but still wanted her to be safe. That's a sign of love, not violence.”
“What's your point?” she asks.
“When the police came to investigate her disappearance, they photographed everything in the cabin. And everything outside of the cabin.”
“I know,” Carrie nods. “I remember.”
“So, you remember that they took pictures inside the trash containers of all the cabins,” I note.
“No,” she says. “Actually, I didn't realize they took pictures of the trash. Why would they do that?”
“Being thorough,” I say. “Covering all the bases. So, I was looking at all of the pictures and I noticed the bowl of strawberry tops on the kitchen table of the cabin where you were staying.”
“Yes,” she says. “I just told you I had strawberries on my oatmeal. Travis did, too.”
“He described them as sliced strawberries. Does that sound familiar to you?” I ask.
“They were probably sliced,” she notes. “Why does it matter?
“The bowl of strawberries on the table in the cabin was just of the tops of the berries. As though it wasn't a serving bowl, but a bowl to collect the discards. But if you look really closely, you can see that there are a couple of whole berries in there as well. Now, when the investigators took pictures of the trash at all the cabins, how many places do you think had strawberries in them?”
“I don't know,” she says. “Strawberries are popular. So, a lot of them?” she asks.
I shake my head. “One. And it wasn't yours. The cabin next door to yours had two strawberries in it. The thing is, Adrian Slatton had just gotten to the campground and was actually bringing the trash out when he heard the scream he told the police about. It wasn't long after that when you got to his cabin to tell him that Violet was missing.”
"Okay. I'm not following," she says.
“The strawberries were on the bottom of the trash container. They're visible in the picture, but it's very clear they went in before the trash. But nobody had been staying in that cabin for days, and the strawberries were fresh. And there was something interesting about them. You know what that was?” I ask.
“I'm done playing this game,” Carrie says, starting to turn around.
“Teeth marks,” I say, making her stop. She leaves her back to me, but I continue. “The strawberries in the bowl were sliced cleanly. But the two in the trash container had been bitten. It's as if they were eaten outside and then tossed away. Obviously, they were not preserved so there can't be any DNA testing. But if there was, what do you think it would say?”
Cary's shoulders drop and she slowly turns around to face me.
“She never understood why she wasn't allowed to eat strawberries. You see them in every movie, every TV show. Every cereal commercial, there they are. They’re such a normal part of life. And she was so little, she just couldn't really understand it. But she was good about not eating things when I told her not to. But then Travis tried to give her berries at breakfast. I stopped him before he did, but it caused a little bit of an argument. Not that that was really unusual.”
“Things weren't good between you two?” I ask.
“No,” Carrie says. “That's not it. As I told you, we were happy. There were just challenges. Some parts of our relationship were harder than others. Violet was one of those parts.
“When we got to the cabin after going to the lake, Travis went out to get things ready to make lunch. I was rinsing the suits and keeping an eye on Violet in the mirror. She was playing, then a second later, she wasn't there. It literally was the amount of time it took me to look down and rinse one of the suits, then look up again.”
“She went out the back door,” I say.
Carry nods. “That was one of the features of the cabin my parents loved so much. Not all of them have back doors. My father was adamant about fire safety and wouldn't stay in a place with no back door. We honestly didn't use it that summer so I doubt Travis remembers it, but she knew where it was. That wasn't the first thing I thought of. I went out to the front to check and see if she was with Travis. I figured maybe he opened the door and gestured for her to join him. Or called to her and I just didn't hear it over the water. But she wasn't out there.
“I didn't even see Travis. He was getting wood for the fire. That's when I went to the back of the cabin. I found Violet on the ground, holding those two strawberries. I already knew. I didn't even have to get close to her. I knew. That scream Adrian heard? That was me.”
“Walk me through your thoughts. What did you do?” I ask.
“Not what I should have done,” Carrie says. “I should have reached out to the rangers. Figured out a way to call the police. But when I saw her, something clicked in me. She was gone by the time I got there. There was nothing I could do about that. But maybe I could use this to bring Travis and me closer together. I figured if our daughter was missing, it would be just the two of us, and we’d bond. It would strengthen our relationship. A lot of good that did me, huh?”
“What did you do?” I ask.
"I wasn't even thinking,” she says. “I know that sounds crazy, but I wasn't. I just went into this instinctive mode. I started acting before I knew exactly what was going on. I threw away the strawberries. I didn't want them in our trash, and I didn't think for a second about Adrian. I tossed them in and hurried to tuck Violet out of sight.
I had to move her around a few times before taking her to the cavern. I obviously didn't want anybody to find her. But, finally, it was time, and I was able to bring her here,” she says.
“But why, Carrie? Why here?”
“As you said, the cavern protected her,” she says. “But there's another reason.”
“Why?” I ask.
“Come on,” she says, walking to one side of the open cavern mouth. I follow her as she climbs up to actually stand on top of the cavern. "I've been coming to this park since I was a little girl. I explored quite a bit, and I found this cavern. I loved how peaceful and secluded it was. But there was something particularly special about it that came back to mean so much to me the day I had to decide what to do with my little girl.”
“What is it?” I ask.
She points ahead of us. “When there was still electricity in the campground, you could stand right here and see the green lights on the front porch. That was why I brought her here. So, she could always come home.”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
“So, it really was a coincidence?” Dean asks from his hospital bed the next day. “She happened to die on the sa
me date as Aaron drowned.”
“I don't really think of that as a coincidence,” I say. “It's two tragedies that happened on the same date. It was just convenient for Carrie that you showed up at the campground that year. If it wasn't for those two unrelated events happening at the same time, Carrie wouldn't have anything to fall back on. It was belated, but the creation of the Arrow Lake curse rumors helped to give some context to Violet's death. There was somebody to blame and it took the heat off her.”
“I can't believe she would leave her own daughter's body out like that for two months,” Bellamy says, her hands on her own belly. “It's just not something I could ever do.”
“Carrie probably didn't think it was something she could do, either. But she was desperate to protect her relationship with Travis. She just did it in a really horrible way.”
“What's going to happen to her?” Eric asks.
“She's been arrested,” I say. “They'll evaluate what happened and determine what charges to bring against her. In the end, Violet’s death really was an accident. Just not the kind anybody thought. She tried the strawberries because Travis liked them so much. She brought them outside so her mother couldn't see her do it. It's that simple. It was what happened after her mother found her that turned it into a criminal matter.”
“Alright, but what about you?” Bellamy asks Dean. “Why was Laura Mitchell so obsessed with you?”
“After seeing that picture of Aaron and me from when I was little, a lot of memories came back,” Dean says. “I don't really think of them as negative memories or things that my brain tried to block out. It's just that it happened a long time ago, and I tried to move on. And things happened to me that forced me to move on. But then I remembered. My mother did use to bring me to the campground all the time. It was her escape. And I don't remember the day I got to meet Emma, but I do know that I saw Ian and Murdock at the campground. I didn't know who they were, and I didn't interact with them, but they were there.”
“His mother made friends with a woman who lived at the park,” I say.
“Laura Mitchell,” Bellamy says.
Dean nods. “I made friends with Aaron and Rodney. We played for a couple of summers in a row. Then one day, he decided he wanted to go swimming. I knew he couldn't. Not without his life jacket. He hated that thing. He said it was uncomfortable. That it made it harder for him to move. He got out into the lake and took it off. Suddenly, he was gone. It happened that fast.
“Laura was devastated. Aaron was her entire life, I think. She loved Rodney. But there was something special about Aaron. The next summer, my mother took me back to the campground. She didn't want me to have bad memories associated with Sherando Ridge, didn't want me to be afraid of the water. We didn't expect to see Laura, but she was there. She was very interested in me. She watched me play, and I found her following behind us a couple of times when we were walking in the woods. We ended up leaving early.
“The next year, I went back again, and she was even more interested in me. I didn't recognize her at the time. Looking back, I can see it. Then I was sitting on the beach playing in the sand and she came up and sat beside me. She picked up a shovel and filled it with sand, then let it stream back down onto the ground. She told me that was how she used to play when she was little. My mother was really unhappy to find us sitting like that. She packed us up into the car and left. I didn't see her again until I went with my friends.”
“It started then,” Bellamy says.
Dean nods. “But the killing started when I went back as a teenager. It was a complete accident that I was there at the same time. I never even paid attention.”
Dean stayed in the hospital for another two weeks. The arrow tore right through him, entering at the front of his shoulder and exiting just above the shoulder blade in the back. It created extensive damage, and he lost a huge amount of blood. But he's doing better now and can finally be discharged. I happen to believe he pushed himself to recover as well as he did because he knew this appointment was waiting for him.
I drive up the long access road and turn to him one more time.
“Are you absolutely sure about this?” I ask. “We don't have to do it.”
“I know we don't,” he says. “I want to. I need to, Emma.”
“Then I'm here for you,” I say. “Let's do this.”
Forty-five minutes later, we're sitting in a dark, dark gray room at a metal table, brushed to a brilliant shine. The sound of the door opening makes us both turn. A disturbing smile creeps onto Jonah's face as the guard leads him around to the opposite side of the table. I get up and walk to the other side of the room, not wanting to be involved in this. But I can't stop him from looking at me, and I know I'll need to stand under the shower for a long time before I feel completely clean again.
The guard puts him in the chair across from Dean and Jonah rests his arms on it, flipping his hands slightly as if he expected his son to hold them.
“I can't believe you're here,” Jonah says. “It's so incredible to see you, son. And you, Emma. I knew the two of you would always end up together. You would end up working toward immense control.”
I turn away so I don't have to see the interaction between the two men. But I can hear it. I don't have a choice. I don't know what Dean plans on saying today. He hasn't told me. But it won’t take long to find out.
“I need you to stop, Jonah,” Dean starts. “I'm not here for a visit. I'm not here to catch up with you or bond. I'm definitely not here to give you some sort of twisted pleasure over seeing Emma and me together. I'm here for you to listen to me, and that's all you're going to do. You understand?”
I glance back over my shoulder and see Jonah give a single nod.
“Good,” Dean says. “I spent a lot of time questioning who I am and what it means. I have carried guilt and my sense of responsibility for far too long. And recently I wondered if I was capable of doing something I didn't think I could ever do, but it looked as if I did. And it made me start to wonder if your being my father means more than I want it to. Jonah’s son. I wondered if it was in me the way it's in you. But now I know that isn't the truth. I am your son. But I am also Emma's cousin. Ian's nephew. Xavier’s best friend. They are enough to prove I'm nothing like you. And I never will be.”
Dean stands up, ready to leave, and Jonah follows his lead.
“Will you come back and visit again?” Jonah asks. “Bring Emma.”
Dean looks over to the guard who has to be in the room during this type of visit. The only reason that it could happen at all is because I pulled a few strings, so I have to be there as well. The guard nods and Dean walks around the table.
Jonah looks confused as Dean opens his arms and takes him into a hug. He moves his mouth almost like he's going to kiss him, but it just brushes the skin at the front of his ear and down along his cheek so he can speak softly into Jonah's ear.
“I will never think of you again,” he says softly.
He leaves Jonah, and we walk out of the prison together.
Epilogue
Two weeks later …
I look down at my feet and see the dark water wash up on the shore and touch the toes of my shoes. That image caught me. It's seared itself into my mind and I've been carrying it since that night. It reminds me of something.
Just as quickly as the thought of the water comes into my mind, it melts down into Elsie sitting in that cavern. I remember the words I spoke to her.
“I’m going to get you out of here. I'm going to send help.”
I gave that same message before. Maybe not the exact words. But with the same urgent sentiment in my heart.
Leaning back in my office chair, I intertwine my fingers behind my head and close my eyes. Behind them, I can see the scene just as clearly as if I'm still standing in the sand looking out over the blue ocean at the rocks jutting out in the water.
“Am I interrupting?” Sam asks.
I sit up and look over at the door where he's leaning.
“Of course not,” I smile.
He comes in and kisses me before putting a manila folder on the desk in front of me.
“What's this?” I ask.
“We identified her,” he says.
“The girl in the cavern?” I ask. “With the missing shoe?”
“Her name was Delaney Mendoza. She was twelve years old. She wasn't from the area. She had been abducted two states over and brought to Sherando Ridge,” he says.
“What's going to happen to her?” I ask.
“Her family will need to be contacted,” he says. “Then we'll decide from there.”
“I'll do it,” I say. “They should hear it from me since I'm the one who found her.”
“That would be great,” he says. “I think it'll be comforting hearing it from you.”
“Wait,” I say. “If the body was Delaney Mendoza, what about Ashley Stevenson? Her family said she went missing five years ago and was in that area. They found a few of her belongings chained the bottom of the lake.”
“All the remains have been accounted for,” Sam shrugs. “They've all been tested. Besides, her age doesn't line up. She would have been thirteen five years ago. Much too young.”
“So, she's not in the campground?” I ask.
‘No,” Sam says. “She’s still missing.”
He walks out of the office, and I stare after him for a few seconds before turning my attention back to my desk. The thought of dark water washing up on my toes forms in the back of my mind again, and I reach for another of the pictures from my desk.
Leaning back in the chair again, I study the image of the site of Greg's death on the beach in DC.
THE END
Dear reader,
* * *
I hope you enjoyed reading The Girl and the Cursed Lake.
